The Redefinition of female gender roles in the 19th century and the use of Darwinism toward Political objectives - Essay Example

Professor Name: Date: Redefinition of Female Gender Role during 19th Century The world has witnessed gradual and steady alterations in the social, political, economic and cultural activities of the individuals since the known human history…

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History reveals the very fact that women had been leading an oppressive life in England as well as the rest of Europe for centuries, and their activities were confined to the four walls only. Being the reflection of the contemporary society, early nineteenth literature portrays the women busy in performing domestic chores and obligations without taking part in any political, social or economic activity. They used to go to excursions and attend balls and dinners under the supervision of family members; hence, they were not allowed to travel alone or without the prior permission of the family. The novels produced by Jane Austen, Dickens, Bronte sisters, Eliot and others depict the same male-dominated cultural scenario, where women were the direct target of discriminative behavior at the hands of male members of society. Somehow, the situation took a drastic turn during the second half of the same century, and the same Mary Evans Ann, who used to produce works under the male name George Eliot, got such courage that she started living with G. H. Lewes for more than 20 years quite as if his wife did not exist; Sarah Austin (the wife of the famous jurist), who wrote letters of such ardor and indiscretion to a visiting German prince as to invite blackmail. (Himmelfarb, 1961) The Victorian literature reveals that female writers, poets, intellectuals and artists used to feel hesitation in participating into any literary, social or political activity, for they were discouraged to get their works published. It is therefore the renowned authors and novelists including Bronte sisters, George Eliot and others had to conceal their female names while creating the pieces of literature. Though Victorian literature contained the works of female writers, but the atmosphere was not appreciable at all. The share of women community in social construction was not acknowledged, although they worked in fields, hospitals, teaching institutions and other professions at limited scale. Still the male domination was oppressive and tyrannical. At first, Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 19th century and Emma Goldman in the beginning of 20th century raised their voice for the women rights. However, later part of nineteenth century observed imperative changes in women’s role and responsibilities in society. It was the era when Charles Darwin presented his astounding Evolution Theory under the title “Survival of the Fittest” in his magnificent work On the Origin of Species (1859), and proved that only strong and powerful species maintained the right to survive and reproduce. Darwin vehemently argues in favor of the notion natural selection, and declares it as the law of nature. He is of the view that it is the law of nature that the favorable traits and features in species contain more probability of inheritance and transformation into next generations. (1872: 159) Renowned sociologist Herbert Spencer extended the same survival theory, called social Darwinism, and claimed that socially strong communities make sure headway in the world, while the financially weak people are sure to eliminate sooner or later. Nineteenth century women also got inspiration from this very notion to obtain freedom from the awkward clutches of suppression and humiliation. Thus, women’
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...that it is targeted only to English and Spanish speaking population; nearly all of the peoples in the world witness such “near-universal” genderroles of men and women and nearly all of the peoples in the world both struggle and thrive in it. The age of European Imperialism, which shaped the political map of the present-day Earth, has long withstanding effects on the global culture. One of such effects is clearly evident on the proper behavior of a man and a woman in any given time, which was vividly illustrated on the video presented. Though many may try hard to push it evade such social element, it has been deeply ingrained in the culture of the societies, making it nearly impossible...

...? Karl Marx, Charles Darwin and Changing Gender Relations Near the turn of the 20th century, social scientists became heavily influenced by scientific discoveries and new realizations regarding the behavior of human societies. Discoveries made in the animal kingdom became translated into the human realm and attitudes were forced to change in response. One significant contribution to this change was the published discoveries of Charles Darwin. Although the discoveries had been made during a trip to the Galapagos Islands, in which many different animals were proven to have evolved for survival in the various habitats of the island from a lesser number of original species,...

...is that it reinforces femaleroles as established by the male ‘gaze’. In addition to Mulvey’s perspective on the production of genderroles in television, researchers have noted a number of pervading trends and stereotypes. One of the most prominent such gender stereotypes occurs in terms of the workplace. While occupational roles for women in society have made great strides throughout the 20th century, television’s production of these roles has not kept pace. In these regards, television depicts males in a wide range of genderroles, while females are...

...?GenderRolesGenderroles are the expectations, qualities, and manners or behaviours that the society associates with feminism or masculinity. Conventionally, men were perceived as breadwinners as well as a source of security for the family. On the other hand, women’s role included homemaking and childbearing. However, other factors such as religion, culture, history just to mention but a few play a role in determining how different responsibilities are shared between males and females. The roles are mainly learned in the course of socialization. Traditionally, boys were taught by their father to...

...GenderRoles In my experiment, I wanted to find out if there was any basis to the common complaint that pretty women receive better service than others within a typical consumer setting. In particular, I wanted to know if there was a difference in the way male and female store clerks assisted their customers based on gender and overall attractiveness. My hypothesis was that male employees would treat attractive female customers better while female employees would treat attractive male customers better.
To conduct my experiment, I put together a small shopping list for a local convenience store that has multiple chains across the...

...and there has been a problem in the families. The males are not open to the idea of the success of the females and this leads to the differences between the individuals. (Genderroles, n.d.) This has brought the debate whether the traditional model of women staying at homes and the men working were better for the society.
Traditional genderroles
In her article, “Traditional genderrole attitudes and violence against women” the author Milinda York states the traditional genderroles of the women. In the American society, the women are dominated and the men are more outgoing. The women...

...affection towards his children and in Bonno’s anxiety that he also might repeat his father’s role- to restore order and peace in conjugal life.
Though Troy driven by sexual impulses makes contra-social relationship with Alberta, his fatherly affection and sense of responsibility for his wife proves him to be more of a sensible social being than of a member of the egoist patriarchy. Regarding Troy’s responsibility to his family, Storm (n.d.) says, “He was not in love with Rose, but felt a responsibility to her” (p. 3). But in the opposite manner, not only the roles of the male characters such as Othello, Iago, Cassio etc in the “Othello” and attitudes towards women and...

...that holds gender-neutral toys such as games and puzzles.
Barbie and G.I. Joe are the commonest toys that demonstrate gender stereotyping, and gender differences within the children’s world. This demonstrates the concept of combat and conquest for boys while the girls are assigned the roles that are usually associated with femininity. The commonest roles awarded to girls as per the toys are clean up, cooking and raising children. Toys that belong to girls are usually associated with pink color, since it is assumed that people of femalegender prefer pink color. In contrast, most toys that belong to male...

...The Biology of Psychology al Affiliation The Biology of Psychology Pierre Cabanis, a French psychologist, pioneered biological psychology in the nineteenth century (Leahey, 2004). Cabanis proposed a number of theories and ideas on how the human brain functions. A significant theory that came into being during the 19thcentury is the theory of unconscious among other theories (Leahey, 2004). The unconscious refers to the processes that occur spontaneously in the human mind, including motivation, memory, and thought processes. This is an interesting concept because human beings may need to understand why individuals do various actions while asleep or in coma (Leahey, 2004). This discussion will consider the explanation of the theory... the...

...the society as a whole by considering by considering its constituent elements such as traditions, norms, institutions, and customs. Herbert Spenser popularized the analogy that presents parts of the society, for example, gender, as organs that function together for the human body to be normal (Magar).
Genderroles from a functionalist perspective were articulated in early 1950s. The theory suggests that differences in genderroles are an efficient way of creating divisions in labor. The division, therefore, aims at maximizing the use of resources, as well as, the efficiency of the society’s system. The perspective views the predefined...

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